BENGALURU: Forbes said on Tuesday (Aug 2) it was exploring a sale of its business and had hired Citigroup to manage the process, months after it pulled out of a deal to go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
“There were many interested parties, so we moved forward with a formal sale process and Citigroup was hired to manage this process,” a Forbes spokesperson said in an emailed response.
Details including the enterprise value Forbes was seeking and a timeline for the sale were not disclosed.
A report from the New York Times, which was the first to report the news, said Forbes was seeking to sell at a price of at least US$630 million (RM2.8 billion).
In recent weeks, an offering document describing Forbes’ financials compiled by Citi has been circulated to companies in the media sector, including Yahoo, according to the New York Times report.
Forbes generated more than US$200 million in revenue and over US$40 million in profit in 2021, the report said.
In June, Forbes sought to terminate its US$630 million deal with former Point72 executive Jonathan Lin-led SPAC Magnum Opus to go public.
Earlier in February, Forbes announced raising US$200 million strategic investment from cryptocurrency firm Binance.
SPAC deals were among the hottest investment trends during the pandemic but the rapid increase in the number of deals has drawn the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has proposed new rules and additional disclosures from the deal sponsors. – Reuters